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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Jesus, Servants, and Beaver Football

Today, as I was perusing the sports section in the local newspaper the following opening sentence caught my eye:

"The story of Jesus kneeling to wash his disciples' feet has become a common theme among the Oregon State football team this season." (Connor Letourneau, The Oregonian)Of course the writer is referencing the popular story in John chapter 13 in which Jesus kneels down before supper and washes each of his disciples feet. He does this as an example of the servant leadership that he wants his disciples to follow. In the above referenced article, Connor Letourneau, talks about the popularity of this passage among the Oregon State football team. He then goes on to focus on the story of one, underappreciated, member of the team: Tim McMullen.Tim is OSU's placeholder, he's the guy who holds the ball for the field goal kicker. Everyone knows the kickers. Footballs kickers are either the heroes or the scapegoats. They could save the game with a good kick or they could let it slip away with a bad one, but no one ever pays attention to the guy holding the ball even though he's just as important to the kick's success. The story outlines the story of McMullen and how he gave up a chance to transfer, be the main punter for a team, and possibly gain a career in the NFL, in order to stay at OSU and push for his friend's success. This is a great example of a feet washer.This story made me think about how many foot washers are around us in every career. How many people that do 'behind the scenes' jobs with a focus on making someone else successful. People who truly model the selfless attitude that Jesus represented to us in the act of washing His disciple's feet. Do you have anyone like that surrounding you? How often do you appreciate them for what they do? If they're a true foot washer they aren't doing it for recognition but they deserve it anyway. Look around you and determine who you need to appreciate today. Who is making sacrifices in order to make you look good? I know I have a few of them at my workplace.To read the full article go here.